"I'm telling you stories. Trust me." - Winterson

A little over a year after my last *amazing* jump school on Lexi, I am finally allowed to ride again. Of course I no longer have a horse, or money to support a new horse, or any degree of fitness... But that's mere details ;) Fortunately I do still have some ability to ride, rusty though it may be, and there are generally horses who need to be ridden, so...

I hopped on the cutest little pony ;) And by cutest little pony I mean GINORMOUS percheron. Qwyn and Lexi lived together for a while -- and Qwyn made Lexi look small. Those of you who have seen how Lexi made me look like a child, can imagine the picture I must've made on Qwyn ;) hahaha And keep in mind, Zel, at just under 16hh and super compact, was about the right size for me.

It wasn't an exciting ride, nor a dramatic ride. Qwyn might actually be the calmest horse I've ridden since I was a child. What it was, was calm and effective. In about half an hour we had noticeable, quantifiable, improvement. If you'd asked me what I missed about not riding, there was quite the list... Sunset hacks to de-stress after work; jumping that little bit higher; nailing the impossible turn; galloping XC; upgrading -- any level can be exciting if you haven't done it on that horse before; crazy-complex gymnastics; nailing that one perfect stride of self-carriage; the satisfaction that comes from increasing that stride to an entire dressage test; goofing around bareback; hanging out in the field while my horse grazes on clovers; the satisfaction derived from taking a completely filthy horse and turning it into something that could be seen in public; the nicker when you walk in the barn first thing in the morning; and the list goes on... What I probably wouldn't have thought of and what became very clear today is how happy it made me and how much satisfaction I got from being able to get on a horse and create improvement. Qwyn is not the most athletic horse, but she is one of the most willing I've sat on. I teach two of her riders on a regular basis, so I have some idea of her background and the things they struggle with. It was only a walk-trot ride, but by the end I had significantly more softness and connection than I'd had at the beginning, a better rhythm, and smooth transitions. As well as a very good idea of what needs work ;) I was pretty pleased with all that for one ride :) I could feel she was starting to get tired so we went on a hack at that point.

I was also very impressed out hacking -- I remember when I started having her in lessons, she had a strong routing habit; I figured for sure she'd be a bit of a nightmare to hack through shoulder-high grass. But clearly she's had some good hacking training because she was a complete lady out there. So of course I dismounted before we got back and let her graze a bit in the yummy clovers ;)

And now I very much want to do it again with feeling ;) Although since a fun bouncy little TB project is not in the budget any time soon, I think it'll be a case of improving my student's horses where they want help and catch riding from time to time. But it's still way better than "thou shalt not ride". And what a gorgeous day to start with. Huge thanks to Kelly for lending me her lovely mare for my first ride in over a year!

About this blog

“Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." - George

“…I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” - Frost

The above tenets are basically how I live my life - much to the amusement of friends and family. Stared with documenting the life of an adult working student, followed through starting and running a riding school, and is now telling the stories of my adventures in adulting.